Britney Spears’ father files to end court conservatorship

“I just want my life back,” Britney Spears said. “And it’s been 13 years and it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money. And it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested.”

Associated Press

Sep 8, 2021, 12:07 AM

Updated 1,053 days ago

Share:

Britney Spears’ father files to end court conservatorship
Britney Spears’ father filed Tuesday to end the court conservatorship that has controlled the singer’s life and money for 13 years.
James Spears filed his petition to terminate the conservatorship in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“As Mr. Spears has said again and again, all he wants is what is best for his daughter,” the document says. “If Ms. Spears wants to terminate the conservatorship and believes that she can handle her own life, Mr. Spears believes that she should get that chance.”
Judge Brenda Penny, who oversees the case, will need to approve the move.
There was no immediate reply to an email seeking comment from Britney Spears’ attorney.
James Spears had been the target of much of the anger surrounding the conservatorship from both his daughter and the public.
A petition from Britney Spears’ attorney to remove him was to be heard at the next hearing in the case on Sept. 29.
Photo: Associated Press 
James Spears said in a filing on Aug. 12 that he was planning to step down as the conservator of her finances, but offered no timetable. He gave up his control over her life decisions in 2019, keeping only his role overseeing her money.
He has repeatedly said there is no justification for his removal, and he has acted only in his daughter’s best interest.
The conservatorship was established in 2008 when Britney Spears’ began to have very public mental struggles as media outlets obsessed over each moment, hordes of paparazzi aggressively followed her everywhere, and she lost custody of her children.
Tuesday’s filing cites how Britney Spears’ “impassioned plea” to end the legal arrangement in a June 23 speech in court gave a jolt to those who wanted to see her freed from it, quoting from the transcript of that afternoon.
“I just want my life back,” Britney Spears said. “And it’s been 13 years and it’s enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned my money. And it’s my wish and my dream for all of this to end without being tested.”
Tuesday’s filing notes that Spears said she did not know she could file a petition to end the conservatorship, which she has yet to do. It says that Penny’s decision to allow her to hire her own attorney, Mathew Rosengart, demonstrates that the court trusts her with major choices. And it says evidence shows she has apparently “demonstrated a level of independence” by doing things like driving herself around Southern California.
It also cites her desire to make her own decisions on therapy and other medical care.
Spears had said in her June 23 speech that she was being compelled under the conservatorship to take certain medications and to use an intrauterine device for birth control against her will.
James Spears called for a court investigation of these and other allegations, saying they were issues that were beyond his control because he had stepped down as conservator of his daughter’s person, handing the role off to court-appointed professional Jodi Montgomery.
Rosengart, Britney Spears’ new attorney, said when he was hired in July that he intended to help end the conservatorship, and questioned whether it needed to be established in the first place, though he had not yet filed to terminate it.
He said instead that his first priority was getting rid of James Spears, whom he challenged to resign on the spot in his first appearance before the court.
Rosengart filed for James Spears’ removal on July 26, alleging he had mismanaged his daughter’s money and affairs, and suggesting he had used the conservatorship for his own gain. The judge denied him an emergency hearing on the matter, saying it could be heard in due course in September.
The lawyer said he welcomed James Spears’ indication that he would eventually step down, but said that wouldn’t slow his efforts to remove him.
Spears gave the conservatorship’s initial existence credit for keeping her career afloat, though she has now put her work entirely on hold for more than two years.
Fans objecting to her circumstances and seeing what they believed were pleas for help in the pop star’s Instagram posts began calling online to #FreeBritney, and began appearing outside her court hearings to protest.
Famous names from Miley Cyrus to Britney Spears’ ex Justin Timberlake have joined the outcry in recent months, especially after Spears’ pair of passionate speeches to the court in June and July.
Penny, the judge with the ultimate power over the conservatorship, has not appeared inclined to end it before, but she has also never been presented with such a clear opportunity.


More from News 12
1:40
Lithium-ion battery fire blamed for closure of Newburgh tailor shop

Lithium-ion battery fire blamed for closure of Newburgh tailor shop

2:08
Sunny skies and warm temps for Saturday in the Hudson Valley

Sunny skies and warm temps for Saturday in the Hudson Valley

0:38
Multimillion-dollar transformation on the way for sections of Hudson Valley

Multimillion-dollar transformation on the way for sections of Hudson Valley

0:32
Veteran firefighter who suffered stroke receives warm welcome home

Veteran firefighter who suffered stroke receives warm welcome home

0:17
Yorktown police sergeant celebrates final walkout following 2 decades of service

Yorktown police sergeant celebrates final walkout following 2 decades of service

0:52
Slate Hill family of 5 loses home in afternoon blaze

Slate Hill family of 5 loses home in afternoon blaze

0:37
2 people charged in Middletown narcotics; firearms bust

2 people charged in Middletown narcotics; firearms bust

1:30
Motorcycle, van crash in Greenburgh causes serious injuries

Motorcycle, van crash in Greenburgh causes serious injuries

0:56
News 12 probes mystery cloud traced to Orange County & seen throughout tri-state area

News 12 probes mystery cloud traced to Orange County & seen throughout tri-state area

1:02
Hillcrest Fire Department receives 2,000 cans of drinking water, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch

Hillcrest Fire Department receives 2,000 cans of drinking water, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch

1:37
Storm Watch Team Meteorologist Skyler Harman strikes down lightning myths

Storm Watch Team Meteorologist Skyler Harman strikes down lightning myths

2:33
Can swimming become dangerous due to extremely high water surface temperatures?

Can swimming become dangerous due to extremely high water surface temperatures?

0:32
NYC officials: Westchester caseworker’s death ruled a homicide

NYC officials: Westchester caseworker’s death ruled a homicide

0:40
State, federal lawmakers introduce legislation to shorten funding gap for World Trade Center Health Program

State, federal lawmakers introduce legislation to shorten funding gap for World Trade Center Health Program

0:34
Ex Frito-Lay employee files defamation lawsuit against PepsiCo claiming he invented ‘Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Ex Frito-Lay employee files defamation lawsuit against PepsiCo claiming he invented ‘Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

0:40
Executive orders still in place preventing Rockland County and Orange County hotels from converting into migrant shelters

Executive orders still in place preventing Rockland County and Orange County hotels from converting into migrant shelters

0:54
Headlines: Drug ring prison sentence, Newburgh felony charge, uptick in car thefts in Briarcliff Manor

Headlines: Drug ring prison sentence, Newburgh felony charge, uptick in car thefts in Briarcliff Manor

0:20
Man sentence to 10 years in prison for running Orange County drug ring

Man sentence to 10 years in prison for running Orange County drug ring

1:18
Town of Wallkill propose noise ordinances at Orange County fairgrounds

Town of Wallkill propose noise ordinances at Orange County fairgrounds

0:34
Finger in salad lawsuit against Chop’t discontinued

Finger in salad lawsuit against Chop’t discontinued